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Is the carbon movement here to stay?
Some in agriculture might be wondering if the hype around carbon will be short-lived.
Brownfield recently asked Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw if he thinks it’s just a fad.
“That’s a very good question, and it’s one I think about. And I’m sure it’s one that if I was one of the people who have to invest lots of money to make these projects happen, I’d be thinking about. Forget President Biden’s reelection, what if the Republicans take back the House in a year? Our policies do change, we have elections, and that’s a good thing.”
He tells Brownfield there are states, countries, and even Wall Street consumers moving in the direction of carbon sequestration.
“As a business, what we look at is what do our customers want? And we’re increasingly seeing that this is what our customers want regardless of the federal policy. Now, if there is no national carbon policy, do some of these projects move forward? Maybe not. (But) maybe some do because of the other markets.”
Shaw says right now there are biofuel plants that ship to California aggressively installing technology that will help lower their carbon footprint. But for plants that don’t ship to California, the return-on-investment is not enough.
